Connections
by The Ever Smiling
Summary: Rinoa is a world-renown author with several Bestsellers beneath her belt. Faced with the challenge of a writer's block, Rinoa takes several trips down memory lane that lead her to where she is today. Squinoa
1. Chapter 1: Shattered Glass

A/N: Hi! I regret to inform you that I believe I have officially decided to abandon the other stories due to a lack of creativity on that end. Instead, I offer you a new story that I **_intend_** to finish. I hope you don't decide to find out where I live and crucify me. That would hurt a lot and you wouldn't win that way either.

N.B: Please note that the bold parts are there to show juxtaposition in the story and are not necessarily known to the characters.

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Chapter 1: Shattered Glass

She stared blankly at her laptop monitor. The words that adorned her screen were the equivalent of what her four year-old son could come up with: _Her cat purred as the letter flew out of her hands. The contents of the note were quite odd indeed._

'Great,' she thought, 'What does the letter say?' It was a question that had an answer that was unbeknownst to anyone in the cosmos, not even her. Surely it would come to her eventually. But eventually was not soon enough. She was running on a deadline.

Rinoa Heartily was one of the literary world's top writers who are famous for their instant #1 Bestsellers that seem to happen over night. Her editor loved her yet hated her for the stress she put him through. He would constantly yell at her to get her fingers moving to write her next big hit. He would tell her that he would have to present it within the next two weeks to his superiors and the lonely chapter from the middle of her story wouldn't fly well with the 'big men with briefcases'.

Squall Leonheart was not only her editor but also her husband and father of her son Alexander. His bosses would tease him that most of the male protagonists in Rinoa's stories were based on him, something that may not be flattering seeing as her last novel featured a somewhat sloppy man who saved her heroine.

Rinoa thought about the events of the past eight years that led her to where she was today: the death of her mother, the cold relationship she had with her father, the strange encounter she had that led to her marriage to her handsome editor, the problems they had that followed their marriage and the difficulties that arose with the arrival of her son. Her vision blurred as she continued to stare at the family photo on the coffee table in the living room.

_  
THE NIGHT BEFORE Rinoa's sixteenth birthday was a night like no other. Her mother was out shopping for God only knew what and her father stayed at work late that night. Alone in the house with an English paper to write for the next day, Rinoa was stuck in front of the computer, trying to make stuff up about a book she hadn't cared for._

_Her sole companion was her dog Angelo who lay in his bed in the corner of her room. Her lavish room contained a four-poster bed covered in cushions, an ornately carved dresser and matching desk, at which she currently sat._

_Her attention shifted from the monitor to her dog. He was a beautiful creature that she wished she could be so that she wouldn't have to exert the effort required to write her literary essay about the odd values instilled in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mocking Bird. She didn't care much for "classic literature" as it was classified as._

_The clock on her bed stand read eight-thirty. She had been going at the essay for four hours and only managed to write an introductory paragraph. The major work was still to come and the idea of locking herself up in her room tomorrow, feigning bad cramps was appealing… the fact that she just had her monthlies last week set aside._

_Her sixteenth birthday was three and a half hours away and she was cooped up in her room trying to figure out her thesis statement. Her stomach growled a thunderous rumble, pulling her out of her reverie. She hadn't eaten supper yet because the work was overwhelming. _

_She walked down the spiral stairs and padded into the kitchen. A nauseous feeling swept over her as she pulled out the Kraft Dinner. Her body was right: she had grown tired of KD these past few years. A thought at the back of the mind told her that it wasn't just the KD in her hand that gave such a sickening sensation but she chose to ignore it._

_She reached further back into the pantry and found the peanut butter and jelly jars. The comfort of childhood food eased her worries about the essay but a part of her felt empty. A part of her was missing; a part that would never be filled, not even by PB and J._

_She placed her food on a small plate and went back to her room. All was normal in the teenager's room. Angelo was still in the corner, her unsaved paragraph was still on the screen and lights were still dimmed. Her chair was unmoved and her scattered clothes still in place._

_She sat down in front of her computer and placed her small dinner before. She bit into the sandwich and chewed. She tried to swallow it but it was a dry and sticky lump stuck in her throat, clogging the feelings of ease. _

_She waited while the peristaltic movements of her throat pushed the lump down her esophagus, leaving the feeling of being stabbed in the back behind it._

_**Sprawled all over the steering wheel, a woman lay there, conscious as a metal rod- a recent purchase- is speared through her body. The back of the car is bent in the middle to show the point of collision in the back of the car. **_

**_In the car behind the woman's car is another driver sprawled across his steering wheel, blood dripping from his forehead. A white, circular spot in his windshield displays the point of collision between his head and the glass. A concussion leads him into unconsciousness and near death as he suffers a mild heart attack._**

**_A bystander who had seen the gruesome crash runs to a payphone and dials 911, hoping for the ambulances to arrive as soon as possible._**

_Rinoa ran down the stairs in rush, fumbling all over the kitchen for a glass. Her throat was clogged, with what, she did not know. She pulled out a glass from a cabinet, sending two others crashing to the floor beside her. She yanked the tap on and didn't bother to fill the glass, drinking only what was in it, hoping that the feeling would go away._

_She choked on the water, entering a fit of coughs. She coughed the former contents of her throat into the sink, bringing up blood as well. _

_**Lifted into the ambulance a few moments later, the woman lies on a stretcher with a paramedic holding her hand, reassuring her that all would be well. A second medic states all that he has performed on the woman in an attempt to ease her pain and save her life. A tape recorder in the front seat captures the medical jargon as the medic injects 50ccs of adrenaline into the woman's veins.**_

_**Blood seeps into the woman's lungs, slowly drowning her. The medics are unaware of this and try to sustain her life until they reach the hospital where further and adequate treatment could be administered.**_

_Frightened by the blood in the sink, Rinoa begins to shed tears of fear as she continues to cough up more and more blood. She doesn't know where it's coming from or why it was happening. She continues to cough, less blood coming up each time until it has completely stopped. Confused, Rinoa rinses the sink and drinks some more water, this time managing to keep it in her._

_**Just outside the hospital, the woman is being rolled out of the ambulance. Her breathing has stopped entirely and her heart is dying out. The carbon dioxide level in her body is reaching toxic levels as the hospital doctors are briefed on the woman's situation.**_

**_The stretcher is wheeled down the hall as doctors shout things back and forth to one another. Just before the woman enters the operating room, the carbon dioxide level has reached the limit, her heart failing and all attempt for life is concluded as futile. She has passed from the realm of the living and has transcended to the plane of the dead._**

_Rinoa felt a change in the air of her house. The windows were closed and the central heating system wasn't on. Even more confused, Rinoa took a step, only to cut the sole of her foot on the broken glass from the shattered cups._

_"Fuck!" She yelled as she hopped to the bathroom so that she wouldn't leave blood on the tiles for her mother to yell at her for. _

_She pulled out a Band-Aid and bandaged her foot. The shift in the atmosphere occurred once more. Dazed, she walked back to the kitchen to clean up the mess but stopped when she traced a message in the glass: _I love you

_She stared at the message, not comprehending the meaning of the prophetic message. After a moment of contemplation, Rinoa reached for the broom and swept the glass into the garbage, the message gone and the feeling of remorse sweeping through her with each sweep. _

_**At the hospital, the woman is identified and her family is called, to notify them of her death.**_

_The stove clock read nine-thirty in glowing red dashes. The lights flickered and the phone rang, disturbing the silence. A keen observer, Rinoa hesitated before she answered the telephone._

_"Hello, may I speak to a member of the Caraway family?" a foreign voice asked through the receiver._

_"This is Rinoa speaking." Rinoa managed to say._

_"I'm sorry to inform you that your mother has died just recently in our facility." The woman said remorsefully. Rinoa's focus shifted upon the word 'died'. Her mother couldn't be dead. It was impossible. _

_The woman continued to speak, "Her car was stuck from behind and a long metal pole was stabbed through her body. The driver of the other car did not survive either and they both died simultaneously. I'm sorry to tell you this. You can come see your mother's body tomorrow."_

_Tears rolled down Rinoa's cheeks tumultuously as the words 'mother' and 'died' echoed throughout her mind. It was impossible. They must have mixed her mother up with someone else. There was no way that her mother would die in her prime._

_The receiver plummeted to the floor as Rinoa's legs gave way and she fell to the floor, sobbing, denying that her mother had died. She yelled and screamed, crying for her mother. The message in the glass flashed though her mind, further upsetting her. _

_The woman's voice was drowned by the screams and sobs. After a few more moments, the woman hung up leaving the monotonous drone of the phone in the background._

_The garage door was opened and a car drove in. The door was shut and the scuffling sound of boots resounded in the garage but never made it to Rinoa's attention. _

_James Caraway opened the door to the main house, only to be greeted by his hysteric daughter's cries and sobs. He walked so her figure on the floor, and tried to calm her, expecting the act to die as soon as he were to raise his voice. _

_"MOOOOOOOM!" Rinoa continued to cry, ignoring the feeling of her father's hand on her back._

_James pulled Rinoa up to face him, acknowledging that her tear-streaked face was not a ploy, but in fact, due to something that must have devastated his daughter. The sobs and wails didn't cease for a single second since the news was brought to her attention._

_James ordered her silence herself. Rinoa attempted to obey, slowly lower her volume level to a muffled cry every now and then with the occasional sniff. A rational voice was adopted as he bade her to explain her troubles._

_A chocked, "Mom died" came from Rinoa's throat as she broke into tears once more, running from her father's grasp to run to her room. _

_A stupefied James sat where he was. Still as a statue, he didn't fall asleep at all that night. The only indication of life in the great man was the rhythmic motion of his chest rising and falling._

_That night, neither daughter nor father fell asleep._

THE PHONE RANG in the Leonheart household, snapping Rinoa out of her reverie of that tragic night. Her eyes had become moist as she took a frightening trip down memory lane. She recollected herself, breathing deeply a few times before she picked up the phone before the answering machine kicked in.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hey babe." It was Squall… (Who else called her 'babe'?), "I'm running late today. I'll be home a couple hours later than usual."

Rinoa could hear a strange noise on Squall's end and a female giggle. Unsure of what to make of it, Rinoa calmed the green-eyed monster within her.

"What's the reason for you tardiness today, Mr. Leonheart?"

"Board meeting with the Briefcases. I hope you appreciate what I go through for you." Once more, a giggle could be heard in the background.

"I do, Mr. Editor. Is there anything you wish in the meantime?"

"Just the finished draft of your next novel."

A click ended the conversation and Rinoa sat there in the apartment, thinking once more about her life. The clock before her caught her eye: 15:30. Time to go pick up Alexander from daycare.

Her worries would have to wait for now.

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A/N: So, what'd'ya think? Is it good enough? Does it show that I am trying to raise my writing quality? It'd be stellar if it actually did improve. But yeah. Happy hour's over, I guess. Exams are next week. Wish me luck.

Please review.


	2. Chapter 2: Dog Bites

A/N: I realized last time that I forgot to write in a disclaimer so here it is.

**I do not own Final Fantasy VIII. I probably never will and that's sad. I know. I merely own this plot and the fun that comes along manipulating characters.**

With that said, I can now say that that will probably be the only disclaimer to grace this story and I hope that suits you just fine. I'd also like to say thanks for all the encouraging reviews.

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_**Chapter 2: Dog Bites **_

"Mommy!" An excited four-year old child yelled as he spied his mother's car roll up in the parking lot. A smile lit up his face and eyes. He rushed about the room, putting the toys he had played with back in their respective places, getting ready to leave the daycare to go home.

A child-like innocence radiated from his figure as he ran to the door and hugged his mother as she walked in. He had waited all day for his mother to come pick him up, playing with the children while waiting for the hands of the clock to form the line that connected the three to the nine.

Alexander's excitement to see his mother didn't mean that he didn't like the daycare or the people who ran it. He had come accept the daycare ladies as second mothers. However, lunch that day consisted of Brussels sprouts, broccoli and meatloaf; three of Alexander's least favorite food reunited on the same plate. Detestable.

Rinoa smiled as her son hugged her legs, clinging to them for dear life. He was a child that always succeeded to ease her miseries and make her smile. She bent down to his height and hugged him.

"Hi Alex! How was your day?" She asked her son, removing his head from her shoulder.

"Good. Can we go home? I want to see daddy too!" Alex replied innocently, unaware of the confusion in his mother's mind regarding his father.

"He's staying late at work tonight, sweetie." It pained her to tell her son something that could potentially break his heart.

"Ok. Could we go out to McDonald's for supper then?" he asked optimistically. Alexander lived in Alex World where everything is always fine and dandy. Rinoa knew that one day, Alex would be pulled to the real world and she hoped that that day wouldn't come too soon.

"We'll see. Go get ready to go." She told her son. She watched as he ran down the hall and down the stairs to the cubbyhole that contained all of his stuff.

"He's a great kid." Mrs. Miller told Rinoa, "He never complains or throws fits. How do you do it?"

"Alex is a Mommy's Little Boy. In his mind, his sole purpose in life is to satisfy his mother. At least, that's what it is for the moment. Complaining and throwing fits would dissatisfy his mother and thus he doesn't do it."

"I can see why he'd want to make you happy. You're a very pretty lady."

Rinoa blushed and thanked her for the compliment. Squall told her the same thing everyday before he left but after a while, she started to question whether he truly meant it or not. Today, she wasn't sure she believed anything he told her anymore.

Her son ran up the stairs and hugged his mother, telling her that it was time to leave and go eat supper. They bade Mrs. Miller farewell as they left the daycare strode out the door.

Alex was put safely in the backseat of the car and Rinoa buckled up in the driver's seat. The key was placed in the ignition and the engine started. They backed out of the parking lot and drove away from the daycare.

"So, you want to eat at McDonald's?" Rinoa asked her son.

"Yeah!" he lit up like a candle in the darkness.

They passed a few streets, stopped at a couple red lights and made a few rights before they stopped at a McDonald's. The duo left the car and strolled in, knowing exactly what the other would order.

Rinoa order her son's Happy Meal of chicken Nuggets and a six-piece trio for herself. The word 'trio' got to her mind and made her a touch sadder since Squall was on the upper floors of a windowed building, doing god-knows-what with a chipper young lady.

They took a seat and began to eat, her son marveling in what he thought was perfection taking form in chicken nuggets.

During the moment of silence between her and her son, Rinoa began to think of her life after her mother died. Her relationship with her father was no longer the same once they determined that the metal pole that was stabbed though her mother was for a plan to develop a closet for her.

_FOR A FEW weeks after her mother's funeral, Rinoa locked herself once more in her room. Her father was always in his study, drinking his life away with a glass of scotch constantly present in his hand. Nine times out of ten, a bottle of scotch was consumed per night and another bottle was always there for him when he came back home from work._

_James Caraway worked from the early hours of the morning to the late hours of the night. He rarely spoke to his daughter and even less of his family life. In truth, his family life was fading faster than it took for him to forget his wife's untimely death. In a couple months, his sixteen-year-old daughter would be graduating from high school- if she should decide to go to school for the rest of the year- and that had not registered yet. He was willingly letting his work life take over his family life._

_March Break had just begun and Rinoa was still mourning the loss of her mother. Her figure was frail and she had an unhealthy aura about her. She had not managed to wash herself in the past few days as she wallowed in her misery. _

_A picture of her mother sat beside her face and her mother's smile radiated healthiness. 'She was so young, it wasn't her time to die.' Rinoa thought, 'Why did you take her away from me?' she continued to think. _

_She thought back to her early childhood when her mother taught her that women were strong and never gave up, usually obtaining their goals. She taught her that women could burry their tragedy and move on with life. 'Was she wrong? Did she lie to me? No, she didn't. She never lied to dad… Should I still call him dad? He's barely ever around and he pretty much never talks to me except to argue that I need to go to school… What would mom want me to do?' Rinoa thought._

_'Get up and clean myself… Stop wallowing in self-pity and move on with my life… Go back to school and get my diploma… That's what she'd want me to do.' _

_Rinoa picked her body up from her bed and walked into her bathroom joined to her room. She ran the water and took off the clothes that had practically become a second skin to her. She wasn't very attractive at the moment but she would wash it all away and become her normal self again. She had to get back into the swing of things._

_The suds were cleansing and inviting to her, almost washing away all of her misery down the drain. The cleanliness it brought with it was refreshing._

_She finished her business before exiting the shower and getting dressed. She finished her bathroom ritual before logging onto to her computer. _

_A few people she knew as her friends greeted her. They asked how she felt to which she responded, "A lot better than I was yesterday." They told her that the long sought after March Break had finally arrived and that they were going to celebrate their freedom at a party to be hosted at Steve Millers' house._

_Rinoa thought about it for a few moments before deciding that she would go, a salute to her decision to move on with her life. They told her that they would 'swing by' to pick her up at about seven o'clock. She said her goodbyes and logged off._

_Rinoa opened her door and the feel of the air outside hit her like a breath of fresh air. Her room was stuffy and there was no circulation. She set forth towards the kitchen, about to easy the hunger that consumed her stomach._

_Her refrigerator was inviting with its shiny finish, almost promising that she'd find something to eat. She pulled the door handle open and took the processed cheese out. She made her way to the breadbox and pulled two pieces of bread out. A grilled cheese sandwich would be the first to be eaten. _

_The pan was extracted from the cabinet and the burner was heated. 'There is no one home and my father would never know that I left my room', she thought._

_'_Nothing ever goes to according to plan_', a line from a song that usually rang true and today was no exception._

_The garage door became active, activated from outside. Someone was home. A car drove into the garage and the engine was shut. A door opened and closed a moment later. Heavy steps sounded on the stairs. The door handle turned and a man entered the house. The sounds of cooking grace his ears. A peculiar sound since the maids had already gone home. _

_Inside the kitchen, Rinoa froze. She didn't know what to do. She was hungry but she didn't want to see, let alone talk to her father. A dilemma arose: satisfy the hunger and talk to the aloof man or shut everything off, remain hungry and avoid conversation? She could dart through the adjoined dinning room and show room- the room that is pretty much never used- and storm the stairs… Or she could confront what is coming at her._

_James Caraway did not allow for Rinoa to carry through with the former as her walked down the hall towards the kitchen. His steps echoed as the bread in the pan crackled. He arrived in the kitchen to see his daughter's face change from confusion to disdain. He knew that she never wanted to speak to him but he was curious why she was suddenly out of her room._

_"What's for dinner?" He asked; trying to act like the sight of his daughter outside of her room was an everyday sighting._

_"Nothing. I was making a snack." She answered coldly._

_"Care to make me one too?"_

_"No. Why would I?"_

_"Why are you suddenly out of your room?" He shrugged off her last answer._

_"Because I felt it's time to move on. Is that a problem?" she snapped. There was no reason for it but he was irritating her. Shortly after her mother's death, he'd told her that it was all her fault and that it wouldn't have happened had it not been for her. The words still bit her conscience every time they echoed in her head, a rabid dog that fed off her blood._

_"No. But are you sure it has nothing to do with the beginning of March Break?" It was a petty shot at her pride but as a father, he was never too sure with her._

_"Are you saying that my mother's death was nothing but an excuse to stay out of school?! She means more to me than a PETTY GET-OUT-OF-SCHOOL CARD!" She shouted. Her fuse was blown and she suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. She stormed past her father and upstairs to her room. _

_She slammed the door behind her, marching towards her desk. She picked up everything she needed for school and her hygiene supplies as well as a few changes of clothes. She packed them into a messenger bag, throwing in her wallet and a few gadgets. She packed the former deep in her bag, surrounded by clothes. _

_She went over to her bed and knotted her bed sheets together. She tied an end of it and tossed the rest out the window. It landed softly on the grass, waiting for its purpose to be filled out it._

_Carefully, she dropped her bag out the window and watched it land safely on the grass. She proceeded out her window and climbed down the bed sheet rope. She landed safely on the ground, picked up her belongings and walked down the street, toward a friend's house._

_She would stay there with them until the end of the school year, provided that her father didn't storm over and demand her return to the house. James never did stomp her friend's doors, demanding her return. _

_The next time she would see her father wouldn't be under healthy conditions._

"MOMMY!" HER SON'S shout pulled her from her reverie. The glazed look that clouded her eyes disappeared and her attention returned to her son.

"Yes, sweetie?" Rinoa asked him.

"You didn't finish your supper. Are you ok?" He asked innocently.

"I'm fine, sweetie. Just digesting. "

"What does digesting mean?"

She would have answered her son had it not been for the fact that at that moment, her cell phone rang. The caller display read, "Squall".

"Hello?" she answered her phone.

"Hi dear. How're you?" Squall asked. A giggle graced Rinoa's ears as background noise.

"I'm fine. How's your friend?" she asked nonchalantly. Inside, it bit her, another dog that would return to feed on her blood.

"Friend? I'm alone." He lied into the phone. Another person shushed the giggling girl. A _feminine_ person shushed the giggling girl.

"Are you sure about that?" She asked, obviously unconvinced. How irked she was managed to remain hidden.

"Of course… Why would you think otherwise? I'm here at work for you." He continued to lie. It irked her that it came so easily for him to lie.

"Right. So what do you want?" she snapped.

"I wanted to check up on my wife, know that she was alright and tell her that I love her."

'Charming,' she thought, 'too bad it didn't work.'

"Sure. Whatever. Your son wants to leave." With that, she clicked the 'off' button and ushered her son out the door. "Where do you want to go know, Alex?"

"Could we go see daddy?" He asked.

'Do I want to see what's going on in that office of his? Have my heart broken in that office of his? Know the truth without the lies?' She questioned herself. Her heart had been broken twice already and was still a bit weak by the last time. It would be broken a third time if she went up there but her sanity would falter if she let it continue. She couldn't afford the later for the sake of her son.

"Sure. We'll go see what daddy's up to."

They got in the car and drove off towards the publishing house. A truth waited for them there.

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A/N: So yeah. Just be warned, this is a short story. It'll take a few more chapters before it's done… I'm thinking along the lines of about ten chapters… Maybe even less. Depends on what I feel like doing with it. I've already started to write the second last chapter. Hey! Guess what! I'm babbling. I really don't know what to say. 

Anyway, tell me what you think about it and all will be well! (That means review)

P.S: The song was 'Emit Remmus' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. If you read the title backwards, it says 'summer time'.


	3. Chapter 3: The Long Road Ahead

A/N: Aloe! And how is everyone on this mighty fine day? Oh, look! A surprise for you! A new chapter! Please read it and review!

Chapter 3: The Long Road Ahead

_Take a left. Take a right. Wait for the red light to change. Wait some more for a couple pedestrians. Take another right. Take another left. Get onto the highway. Get off at the exit. Pull onto another highway. Take another exit. Take some more lefts and rights. Drive past the tall buildings. Go down a street. Up to the tall glass building with the Harker & Smith sign atop, illuminated with neon lights- the "Writer's Signal" as it is commonly known as._

Rinoa lateral parked in front of the building, looking up the building for a sign of life. Somewhere near the fourteenth floor, an office light was still on. _Excellent_, Rinoa thought, _He's there._

Looking back to her son in the back seat, she unbuckled her seat belt, opened her door and went to the back seat to retrieve Alex. She closed the car door and grabbed his small hand, guiding him to the double glass doors.

Looking into the dark lobby of the publishing house, a thought occurred to Rinoa: if her suspicions were correct, the sight would traumatize her young son. His hero would fall from grace and she'd be left with a shattered young child who still had yet to mature.

She did not want to take the chance but something told her that risks are supposed to be taken. The classic angel and the devil appeared on her shoulders, arguing with one another regarding which course of action to take. One told her that Alex's life was still ahead of him and that he did not need to see what was going on up there. The other told her that she needed to calm her own thoughts, stating that if she were to see it with her own two eyes, she would know for sure, not to mention that, f needed be, she could always walk into Squall's office before Alex.

'_Damn those two voices,_' Rinoa thought, '_they always bring up such good points._' Looking down at her son, Rinoa knew that they needed to go up there. She brought forth a shaky hand and tugged the cold metal.

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_The months that followed her flee from home were not as smooth as one could hope for. Her best friend, Ariel, had a mother and a father. She was an only child, the sacred jewel of her inner family. Her mother, Grace, never really liked Rinoa all that much. Her father, Arnold, was never around after Rinoa sought refuge in Ariel's house. Ariel, on the other hand, was ecstatic that Rinoa was living with them._

_In Grace's mind, Rinoa was an intruder in the house, unwelcome by everyone, except her daughter. In her mind, Rinoa was an out-of-control girl who lacked morals. She did not value anything that they had done for her nor the love of her very own mother. To Grace, Rinoa was an ungrateful brat. Grace would never get the chance to hear Rinoa's sincere apology made ten years later._

_Arnold had become a sudden mystery. No one really knew what Arnold did between the hours after work and before he got home at ten o'clock. Before Rinoa arrived, Arnold was home by six o'clock and ate with his beloved wife and daughter. In the wee hours of the morning, at about five thirty, Arnold would leave the house for work. Before Rinoa arrived, he left the house at seven thirty. Where was he going? What was he doing? He was always aloof whenever Rinoa was over for dinner before she ran away from home._

_The day Rinoa arrived on Ariel's doorstep, begging for a place to stay, Ariel answered the door. She was delighted to see that her friend was alive and not emitting horrible bodily odors. She was disappointed that Rinoa was leaning towards the Kate Moss side of physique but it would change in time._

_"Ariel, help me. I need a place to stay." Rinoa begged._

_"Um, sure. You can stay here if you want. I'll get my mom to make up the guest room for you and you can stay in there for as long as you want. Come in." Ariel ushered Rinoa in the house, told her to drop her belongings on the floor of the entry way and take a seat on the couch._

_"Mom, Rinoa's gonna stay with us for a while, okay?" Ariel told her mother._

_The look on Grace's face did not betray her; her muscles stayed perfectly intact in the plastered smile that was constantly on her face and her eyes veiled the inner turmoil in her mind. She did not want this politician's brat to stay in her house but she did not want to disappoint her daughter. Ariel meant the world to her and disappointing Ariel meant falling the girl as a mother._

_"Sure, sweetheart. I'll go make up the guest room." Grace smile as she calmly strolled up the stairs to the second floor, heading in the general direction of the guest room._

_"Now that that has been taken care of, care to tell what happened in camp Caraway?" Ariel asked her friend. She used the pet name for Rinoa's house to indicate that she did not have to tell her all the nitty-gritty details._

_"My dad and I got into a fight about my mother. That's all." Rinoa said halfheartedly. She did not want to go into detail hoped that Ariel would understand that._

_"Oh. I take it that the fur flew." Ariel left it at that before changing the subject. "Do you still want to go to Steve's party? We don't have to if you don't want to. We could stay in and watch movies if you want."_

_Rinoa sighed. A fight with her dad never really meant much to her. "No, I want to go to the party."_

_"Alright. I'm gonna go get ready to go. Gimme a few minutes, k?" Ariel chirped as she ran up the stairs, two steps at a time._

_"Rinoa, your room is ready." Grace called from the top of the stairs._

_Rinoa took her cue and retrieved her stuff from the entryway and hauled them up the stairs. She smiled at Grace and gave her a sincere thank you before she began to fill the drawers with clothes and stuff. She organized the clothes, promising herself that she would make an effort to keep the room clean to save Mrs. Morgan the trouble of cleaning her room as well as Ariel's._

_When she finished unpacking, Rinoa sat on the corner of the double bed in the center of the nicely furnished room. She sat there thinking that things would get better, that one day her father would acknowledge her status as his daughter and not that of his deceased wife's daughter. She desperately hoped that one day, things would be better, that Ariel's mother would not despise her so and all would be well in her life once more._

_That night, against Grace's wishes, Ariel and Rinoa went to Steve Miller's party. They met up with the rest of their friends and had the time of their lives. They had each taken a couple hit of acid, downed three times the regulation blood-alcohol level and jumped off the balcony into the pool below. They had passed out at Steve's house, waking there the next day with a severe hangover. It was not the best way for Rinoa to win over Grace's trust._

_At a normal party, Rinoa would not have done half of those things. However, it was not a normal party. It was the first party **after** her mother's death. It was the celebration of her moving on._

A couple weeks later, Rinoa had decided that laying low that weekend would score her some points with Mrs. Morgan… Mr. Morgan was never around anymore so she did not know on which ground she stood with him.

_Rinoa's grades improved as she made the effort towards her studies. She wrote all of her papers, submitted her literary essay on To Kill A Mocking Bird and aced her tests. Her reputation as a hard partier soon faded, dismissed as a one day show._

_The second month of Rinoa's stay was more pleasant for Grace. She had the idea that Rinoa had changed from that first week she was there. It took a month but for her to notice but the signs of change were there. She was beginning to accept her as one of Ariel's key friends, ignoring that they had been friends since their toddler years._

_It was the third month that things began to go awry. Ariel and Rinoa had returned home from school in a jovial mood on a Thursday afternoon. The side door to the garage was open, a peculiar sight since no one was ever in there. Picked by their curiosity, they entered the garage to find Mr. Morgan inside, lifting weights. It was a curious sight since it had been three weeks since Ariel last saw her father during the hours of daylight._

_"Dad!" Ariel cried, "What're you doing home?"_

_Ariel had caught Mr. Morgan off guard but caught the barbell before it crashed into his chest. Rinoa felt awkward around Mr. Morgan. The garage was his temple and she felt like she was an intruder. It appeared to Rinoa that the garage was never cleaned periodically as there was dust that covered the workbench behind the workout bench. What intrigued her the most was the picture of her in a frame on the desk. Silently, she hoped that neither Ariel nor Grace would notice it._

_It became clear to Rinoa then that Mr. Morgan desired her. She did not plan to act upon it since he was her best friend's father. Rinoa excused herself, stating simply that she needed to use the washroom._

_She went to the bathroom but did not return to the garage. Instead, she went to the guest room and quietly unpacked the contents of her schoolbag and began to do her homework._

_The next day, Rinoa picked up a copy of the local newspaper to look for an apartment. The atmosphere in Ariel's home had become too odd for her. She needed to leave._

_That night, in the wake of a flashlight, Rinoa circled potential apartments that could suit her needs. In the week to follow, she went out on a series of interviews before she obtained an apartment close to the heart of the city._

_The day before they graduated, the day after Rinoa was supposed to move into her apartment, Mr. Morgan's body was found in the garage. There was blood mixing with the dust on the floor and workbench, his eyes were closed. Mrs. Morgan cried for days to follow and Ariel was stunned beyond belief. Rinoa did not want to be around for the days to follow but she did not want to leave her friend in a time where her presence would be needed._

_It was determined the day after graduation that Mr. Morgan was clutching her photograph to chest. Mrs. Morgan had lost all sense with the passing of her husband. She was further upset when she had read her deceased husband's journal and his attachment to Rinoa's picture. The descriptions of his lust were beyond normal, implying that Rinoa had something to offer that Grace simply did not. Grace lost her composure as she kicked Rinoa out of the house, against Ariel's wishes._

_Rinoa had quietly left the house that day, picking up her already packed bags from her room and called for a taxi to pick her up._

_College would be a good change for Rinoa._

* * *

The door did not give way to her pull. Rinoa reached into a coat pocket and pulled out her keys. She found the key to publishing house and turned it until the lock opened. She pulled the door once more and ushered Alex into the building. She bade him to stay still as she disabled the alarm. She punched in the code and proceeded with Alex through the second set of glass doors. She pushed the up button and waited for the elevator to come down. 

"Mommy, why do the lights come on and off?" Alex asked her. His curiosity never failed to make him look cute.

"Well, the light comes on when the elevator reaches that floor… See the six just lit up…. And they go off when the elevator passes it… See, the six went out." She answered her son.

The elevator dinged, the doors slid open and they entered. Rinoa pushed the twenty-one. Alex danced to the elevator music, a natural tiny dancer. He was excited to see his father today. He squeaked happily when the elevator door opened and ran out before his mother could stop him,

Horror consumed Rinoa's mind, imagining the worst possible situation. Her husband mounted on top of a strange girl with the other behind him… Being dominated… Who knew? If he were avoiding her, distancing himself from her, who knew what kind of kinky and X-rated stuff he were into?

She took a moment to calm herself, prepare for the worst only to lay eyes upon the room at the end of the hall and her son at the door.

"Mommy, daddy's not here. Where is he?" Alex called to his mother innocently.

The quiet of the building, the hum of fluorescent lights and the blackness of Squall's office filled her senses. The smell of Mister Clean reached her nose and she cringed a bit. _They must have left._ Rinoa thought.

"Come on Alex," Rinoa called to her son, "If daddy's not there, then there's no point in sticking around, right?"

At that moment, Rinoa's cellular phone rang once more.

"Hey, beautiful! Where are you?" Squall's voice asked her.

"Squall, you shouldn't call her… We might get caught!" The chirpy girl yelled at him in the background.

"Will you cut it out? I think we were caught a long time ago!" Squall's muffled voice came through the receiver.

"Squall, just, go home. We'll talk there." Rinoa hung up. Tears started to form around her eyes. The blurred vision of Squall's office met her eyes before the elevator doors closed.

Alex saw his mother begin to cry and hugged her dearly, a little mama's boy. "Don't cry mommy, you're beautiful. Crying makes people look ugly."

A/N: I think I just made myself cry... or maybe it's the dust. Anyway, I wouldn't call more than a couple chapters left. Review! … Please?


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